The Adventures of Team BAJA – Ep 7 “Lurking Shadows” or “Lurking Squirrels”

After dealing with some cultists and a large planar portal opening above the city of Illinathar, the party earned a well deserved rest and used this time to prepare for their next leg of their journey. A week passed for the party, the city is in the midst of repairs on the docks and harbor, and along with various structural damages caused by the mephits and animated gargoyles from the Animus gem.

During this time of rest, the party decided to take some downtime and get their affairs straightened since they knew they were to be gone for a lengthy period of time. Aydan and Arcaelus began the long work of crafting and upgrading some of the party’s armaments and some arcane research on the side. Jimmy decided to spend his time in the few parks within the city and attune himself to the flow of nature. Brightiron spent some of this time around the nearby pubs and taverns, though eventually the barbarian decided to commune with the few small animals in the parks and journeyed to find Jimmy. An epic chase via squirrels and tossed acorns lead to a mild disturbance within the park, eventually the two decide to return to Arcaelus’ home before the authorities made any appearance. Rainer returned from his business with his employer, and spent his time within the various shops to acquire components to craft some poisons.

Squirrels, Image: JC Amerlyn

The state of the docks and harbors in Illinathar after the planar incidents had left it in disarray with broken lumber and sunken ships. Various businesses that resided within the city made their own travel preparations for their goods to be exported and many ships entering the city were directed to smaller ports several miles away to bring their wares to the city. The team decide to offer their services to a small caravan for a mercantile company, leaving at first light for a three day trek to town of Rivergreen, located north of the region along the river.

After a three day trek, not far from the town of Rivergreen, the party and the caravan take one last rest before they entered into the town’s borders. The night was dark and dreary, the wind howled until the team realized that a pair of banshees attacked the caravan. Their frightful visages shook the barbarian to the core and had him frantically run to a corner. One of them unleashed a deathly wail that knocked Aydan unconscious, which awakened something deep within her soul.

The fiery shadow from her persona emerged and incinerated the two banshees into ether and wisp. Before they faded into the next life, they warned of treachery and vengeance. Not far from the camp grounds, Arcaelus found a set of bones on loose dirt with a locket. Further commune with the local squirrels and one rabbit, revealed no significiant leads other than than the location for the best acorns. The corpses had been there a fair amount of time, but the weather and possibly animals made the time of death difficult to ascertain. The party agreed to solve this mystery when they made their way to Rivergreen, with hope that more details would surface in their future.

Thank you for following along, catch us again next week! It’s a shorter story today, but SQUIRRELS, since it’s mostly transition for the party. If you want to stay informed of when we post, please subscribe, follow us on Facebook or Twitter. If you want to chat with me or follow my nerd ways, follow me on Twitter. We have a donation button set up, all proceeds will go to funding our endeavors in the future. If you have any comments or questions, please post it down below.